Alarming surge in suicide deaths among active-duty US troops alarms Pentagon

After two decades of unending wars in faraway territories, the US troops seem to have had enough, which is evident from an alarming surge in suicide deaths among them.

The disturbing trend has alarmed senior Pentagon officials, who say excessive demands for US military personnel around the world have become unsustainable, contributing to serious mental illnesses.

A senior US defense department official was quoted as saying by the USA Today that the unpredictability of life in the US military and the constant demand from commanders for overseas assignments by ships and warplanes, as well as the presence of ground troops, has frayed the force.

The US government has divided the world into different sections overseen by four-star officers. While demand for the central command, which comprises Afghanistan and Iraq, has reduced due to gradual draw-down, other commands have upped the ante, particularly with the rise of Chinese influence, the report noted.

While China falls under Indo-Pacific Command, an official quoted in the report said commanders in other parts of the world cite Chinese influence in their regions to justify deployment of more forces.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has occasionally referred to China as the Pentagon's "pacing challenge," warning that the military needs to maintain its edge over Beijing. But, as it appears, the military personnel needed for the task are missing.

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China spent $261 billion on defense in the year 2019 compared with the humongous $732 billion spending by the US, but the growing clout of Chinese dragon seems to have frightened US officials.

According to Gen. James McConville, the US army chief of staff, about 485,000 soldiers are on active duty, while the requirement is that of 540,000 to 550,000 soldiers. 

Due to serious mental health issues, a large number of US soldiers have snatched their own lives in recent years. The long overseas missions in futile militaristic adventures are taking a heavy toll on them.

The US defense official, quoted in the USA Today report, cited the case of USS Nimitz, the aircraft carrier whose 321-day deployment in 2020-21 was the longest since the Vietnam War.

“Some troops burn out and leave the service early, others cope by abusing alcohol or drugs,” the official is quoted as saying, while hastening to add that some “die by suicide”.

"We have become our own pacing challenge," the official said, invoking Austin’s words for China.

Alarming trend

According to Pentagon figures, a total of 326 active-duty US troops died by suicide in 2018, which increased to 350 in 2019 and 385 in 2020. The trend has become alarming in last three years.

“The stress of military life is real, and that's why the military life is not for every person,” Brad Carson, president of the University of Tulsa, who oversaw Pentagon personnel policy in the Obama administration, is quoted in the report. “It demands great personal resilience. This is made even harder by time spent away from friends and family, the rigors of deployments and a tempo of operations that only grows as assets become thinner and more stretched.”

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admitted in June that it had become a “big concern”.

More than 90% of those who die by suicide are men, the report noted, especially those who serve combat units, such as infantry. And, most of them are young, aged 18 to 26.

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A US soldier who served in Alaska is quoted as saying in the report that troops with mental health struggles often have to wait weeks to see a counselor, pointing to sheer disregard for their welfare.

A recent (June 2021) report by Brown University revealed that soldiers in the US armed forces die at their own hands at four times the rate of dying at the hands of any enemy.

“Suicide rates among the United States public have been increasing for the past 20 years, but among active military personnel and veterans of the post-9/11 wars, the suicide rate is even higher, outpacing average Americans,” the report noted, estimating 30,177 active-duty personnel and veterans of the post 9/11 wars dying by suicide, more than the 7,057 service members killed in post-9/11 war operations.

“High suicide rates mark the failure of the U.S. government and U.S. society to manage the mental health costs of our current conflicts,” the researchers said.

Interestingly, the military suicide deaths reflect a national trend in the US. The suicide rate has jumped significantly since 1999, becoming the second leading cause of death among people 10 to 34 years old, according to reports.

Exit from Afghanistan, Iraq

After announcing the withdrawal of its troops from war-ravaged Afghanistan after 20 years of military occupation, top Iraqi and US officials plan to issue a statement calling for US combat troops to leave Iraq by year-end, according to a report in Wall Street Journal.

“We don’t need any more fighters because we have those,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein was quoted as saying in the report. “What do we need? We need cooperation in the field of intelligence. We need help with training. We need troops to help us in the air.”

The statement is expected during Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Washington on Monday, during which he is slated to meet with President Biden.

The announcement will mark the culmination of a number of strategic dialogues between Iraq and US officials over the American military presence in Iraq over the last few years, a report in Politico said.

Kadhimi in a recent interview said that Iraq no longer has a need for US combat troops.

Iraqi PM says US foreign combat forces ‘not needed’ in Iraq

Iraq’s prime minister says there is no need for the presence of foreign combat forces on the Iraqi soil.

“Iraqis are now ready to stand up on their feet and protect themselves. We are no longer in need of U.S. combat troops,” he told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. “At the same time, we will continue to need intelligence support, training, capacity building and advice.”

It comes amid reports that almost 95 percent of US troops have vacated their bases in Afghanistan, where the full withdrawal is expected by early-August.

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